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About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons incl... (More)

About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons including Chicago and Boston. Exercise is an integral part of my life. I hope to one day go back to long distance running and tackle the New York City Marathon. Right now I run after my one year old son. Although I am a stay-at-home mom, we are rarely "at home." My mom also stayed at home with my brother and me. She warned me that, although rewarding, it can be isolating. So, with her help, I learned the importance of getting out into the community and meeting other mothers. On the rare occasion when I am at home and have a hand or two free, I squeeze in time to scrapbook. As a new mom, many challenges are thrown my way. I hope my opinions, triumphs, and struggles help experienced parents reminisce, new parents cope, and parents-to-be get an honest glimpse of what the first years of motherhood can entail. (Hide)

Magical Bridge Playground

What better way to start off the week than by checking out a brand new playground. Our son and his friends had a great time exploring the new Magical Bridge Playground this morning.

Although there were many kids running around, the park easily accommodated the crowd. However, I bet I wasn't the only parent wishing I had dressed my son in a brighter color so I could more easily see when he dashed off from one play area to the next. As with any new play space, it will take a little while for me to get used to this park's unique blind spots.

I'm so used to bringing a bag of toys with us to the park. It was a wonderful change of pace to leave our toys at home and instead focus on discovering what this innovative and inclusive park has to offer - especially all of the different equipment for kids to spin, swing, sway and slide. We stayed for about two hours and still didn't play with everything!

The slides were clearly a favorite place for many children. And, although it wasn't packed with kids, I enjoyed the park's unique laser harp. We'll definitely be adding the Magical Bridge Playground into our park rotation.

Did you check out the new Magical Bridge Playground yet? What did you think?

@johnny - This Park was designed so kids who can't "climb trees, play with a stick and toss a football" can still have a wonderful, outdoor play experience. It was a labor of love by a Palo Alto mom and her supporters.

Posted by Pine Grove Play Structure,
a resident of Midtown,
on Apr 24, 2015 at 9:50 am

I am not a fan. Until last week, lots of kids came and played with me. They turned my wheel, talked into my speakers, climbed my curvy ladder. Now? barely anyone. I hear the kids in the distance, but they seem more interested in a play stage, laser harp and spinning platforms than an old piece of plastic and metal like myself.

Posted by Cheryl Bac,
a Almanac Online blogger,
on Apr 24, 2015 at 3:04 pmCheryl Bac is a registered user.

Johnny - Thanks for commenting. We never checked out that section of Mitchell Park before the Magical Bridge Playground was built. The water area, grassy field and toddler playground provided us lots of entertainment.

Magicalbridge.org has a lot of great background information about why this unique, accessible, and inclusive park was built.

palo alto mom - Thanks for commenting! And for explaining why this playground was built. Yes, it was a very fun outing for us.

Pine Grove Play Structure - Thanks for commenting. The Magical Bridge Playground was crowded when we visited. It will be interesting to see if it remains crowded into the summer or if kids will be more drawn to the water play area (if the water is turned on).

Posted by Cheryl Bac,
a Almanac Online blogger,
on Apr 25, 2015 at 10:18 amCheryl Bac is a registered user.

Anonymous - Thanks for commenting. Sorry to hear that. When we went, it felt like most people were very considerate of others.

The park was designed to accommodate a variety of different physical and cognitive abilities (autistic, hearing impaired, etc), so the varying abilities of the kids and adults may not always be obvious.

Posted by Silvia,
a resident of Greenmeadow,
on Apr 27, 2015 at 11:42 am

Anon, My son has a hearing impairment and we specifically went to this playground so he could enjoy some of the tactile equipment. I wish people could understand that not all disabilities are visible and I wish people would be a little slower to pass judgement based on limited evidence like a casual glance around this lovely new playground.